Apple's iPhone OS takes 40 percent of Web market share - study

The iPhone and iPod touch dominate most of the world in the mobile Web browsing battle, taking a 40 percent global total that bests rival Nokia, a new study has found.

In its latest Mobile Metrics Report released Wednesday, AdMob discovered that the iPhone OS market share has increased 7 percent in the last six months, while Nokia's global share has dipped from 43 percent to 34 percent. Research in Motion carries 8 percent in the August report, Android with 7 percent, and Windows Mobile with 4 percent.

The iPhone is the dominant platform across the globe, taking the largest share in all regions except Asia and Africa, where Nokia's Symbian OS carries the lion's share. But in the U.S., the iPhone and iPod touch combine for a 52 percent share of the mobile Web market, with both devices the top handsets. For smartphones only, Apple is also on top, followed by the HTC Dream and Palm Pre at two and three, respectively.

AdMob's Mobile Metrics Report is based on Web and application use from the advertising company's 9,000 publishers and 3,000 applications worldwide. The study is representative of device usage, but does not necessarily reflect handset sales.

The study also found that Google's Android is being adopted rapidly in North America and Western Europe, where the HTC Magic (myTouch) is currently a top 10 smartphone. Month over month, use of Android grew 17 percent globally.

Though Nokia has lost its lead to Apple, the company still has the most handsets populating the list. The company has 12 of the top 20 smartphones in the global study, led by the Nokia N97 and 5800 Xpress Music.

Mobile Web browsing continues to grow, as well. The study found that there were 10.6 billion worldwide requests in August, a 9 percent increase from the previous month.